West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933 Volume 77, Number 7 | July 18 - 24, 2007

Scoopy's Notebook

N.Y.U. planning online: Alicia Hurley, New York University’s associate vice president for government and community affairs, reports that the 30 boards from the recent open house for the university’s new strategic planning initiative  or long-term, 25-year campus planning process  are now posted online at http://www.nyu.edu/about/open.house/. In addition to information on N.Y.U.’s facilities and student body growth challenges, the boards also contain facts and figures about the university that provide a context for its hotly contested expansion efforts.

Crusty crackdown: Apparently trying to cool things off a bit in the area of Tompkins Square Park where the “crusties”  homeless punks and young drifters  hang out, police have roped off benches in “Crusty Row,” according to photographer and blogger Bob Arihood. But it’s a big park and the crusties have just moved over a few benches, Arihood tells us.

Legacy of justice: The memory of Alex deJoia, a former N.Y.U. Mongolian language specialist and, with his wife, Bobby, an early member of the Village Independent Democrats, is being honored in the new International Slavery Museum in Liverpool. The deJoias relocated to England some years ago. When Alex died three years ago, his family decided to make a large contribution in his name to the new museum, scheduled to open this August. As Bobby told former Councilmember Carol Greitzer, the museum “will examine all aspects of this abhorrent trade and its legacies;” it will also plan exhibits on the various forms of slavery existing today in many parts of the world. There will be a large wall plaque in the main gallery honoring Alex, including the names of all who make a contribution in his name. Checks can be made out to American Friends of National Museums Liverpool Inc. and sent to Bobby deJoia, 2 Streatley Place, London NW3 1HP, U.K. Or people can e-mail Greitzer for more information at cjhg59@yahoo.com.

Primary colors: Out of sensitivity for the anniversary of 9/11, Primary Election Day in New York City will be pushed back one week this year to Tues., Sept. 18. It’s not a big deal in the Lower West Side’s 66th Assembly District where no races are expected. “There will be no polls open at all, if nothing is contested,” said Downtown District Leader David Reck. “My guess is most Assembly districts in Manhattan will not have polls open.” The big primary elections will be two years from now when two local City Council seats open up due to term limits. Reck said, in the race to succeed Quinn, word is that candidates will include Brad Hoylman, Andrew Berman and “four or five others,” possibly Carlos Manzano and Brian Ellner, though Ellner may no longer be interested. In the primary for Gerson’s seat, Reck said he’s hearing Julie Menin, Peter Gleason, Madelyn Wils and “at least two or three Asian candidates.” “The real race will be in these primaries and it’ll be wacky,” Reck assured.

A tasteful tease: Warren Pesetsky, the lawyer for Forty Deuce, the burlesque club that Ivan Kane and his partners David Bowie and Sting intend to open at 19 Kenmare St., told The Villager that neighbors who are upset about the project don’t really understand what burlesque is all about. The dancers don’t reveal all that much skin, he said. “I’ve seen their show in Las Vegas and I was disappointed,” Pesetsky said. “Sally Rand [the famed burlesque queen who flourished from the 1930s to 1950s] was topless behind a fan. These dancers don’t even do that. We don’t need an adult entertainment permit,” he added. Pesetsky also denied that Forty Deuce misled a Community Board 2 committee back in April. “Everything we told the committee was 100 percent accurate, except that they asked us to close earlier, and we agreed,” Pesetsky said, noting that the full board had voted to recommend that the State Liquor Authority grant the liquor license for Forty Deuce.

Who, me? Scoopy recently incorrectly reported that Tobi Bergman is co-chairperson of the Pier 40 Working Group. He is not on the working group. We mixed it up with the Washington Square Task Force, of which Bergman IS co-chairperson. Sorry about that, Tobi.